WASHINGTON—Democrat lawmakers, returning from their Fourth of July holiday recess, were met with a forceful letter from President Joe Biden on July 8, which unequivocally stated that he has no intention of stepping aside and is “running this race to the end.”
That same morning, the president called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” to double down on his stance.
“I am not going anywhere,” President Biden said.
The president’s comments were made after highly publicized efforts by a handful of lawmakers and media pundits to push him out of the presidential race following his June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump.
“I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” he said during the MSNBC interview.
“I don’t care about what those big names think,” the president said, referring to media organizations and pundits who have recently called on him to quit the race.
President Biden criticized the media for underestimating his performance, stating, “They were wrong in 2020. They were wrong in 2022 about the red wave.”
He asked the media pundits to follow him closely and watch how voters respond to him on campaign trails and form an opinion afterward.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who has voiced continued support for President Biden, criticized recent calls from the media and lawmakers for the president to step aside as “undemocratic.”
“The American people have spoken. He’s the nominee. And so any will to try to take that away from him is actually disrespecting the democratic process,” he told The Epoch Times.
Since the first debate, President Biden has been actively rallying support. As part of this effort, the president participated in a call with the Biden Victory Fund National Finance Committee on July 8, along with Mr. Moore, according to the Biden campaign.
The call was about focusing on the future and hearing the president’s vision, Mr. Moore said.
“I think that the people on the call appreciated his honesty about the fact that he did not have a good night,” he said, referring to the president’s debate performance on June 27.
David Carlucci, a Democrat strategist and former New York state senator, agreed with the president’s appeal for unity, noting that “the only direction for Democrats is forward.”
He warned that starting from scratch with a new candidate would harm the party’s momentum, particularly in crucial battleground states.
“Some media sources love to spin this as a doomsday scenario with the entire party turning on the president,” Mr. Carlucci told The Epoch Times.
“Yes, a few lawmakers have voiced their concerns, but these aren’t influential voices like House Minority Leader Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, or former Speaker Pelosi.”
‘Challenge Me at the Convention’
Since the first debate at CNN’s Atlanta studios, a small number of House Democrats, both privately and publicly, have been urging the president to drop out of the race. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) was the first to take this stance.
While Senate Democrats have generally been silent on the matter, there were reports that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was attempting to organize a group of senators to persuade the president to withdraw from the race.
“I am getting so frustrated by the elites … in the party,” President Biden said during his interview with MSNBC, saying they think “they know so much more.”
He invited them to “challenge me at the convention” in August in Chicago if they wish to remove him from the presidential race.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, who was cited as being among the lawmakers who called on the president to end his candidacy, told reporters on July 9 that his concerns about the president are “beside the point.”
“He’s going to be our nominee, and we all have to support him,” he said before a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.
The president also targeted donors in his letter, saying, “I don’t care what the millionaires think.”
Several Democratic Party megadonors have supported efforts calling for President Biden to drop his reelection bid. These donors included Abigail Disney, an heir to entertainment titan Disney; Ari Emanuel, a prominent Hollywood talent agent; and Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix.
Others continue to back his reelection campaign, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, real estate heiress Amy Goldman Fowler, billionaire Mark Cuban, and Alex Soros, son of billionaire George Soros.
In the letter to congressional Democrats, President Biden urged them to band together and move forward as a unified party.
“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us,” the president wrote in the letter, which was distributed by his campaign.
Political strategist Christopher Bruce agrees, saying that President Biden has made a compelling case for why he is the best candidate to win the 2024 election.
“His letter states the process for the primary; he’s won the votes, and he deserves to be the presumptive nominee going forward,” he told The Epoch Times. “He is like most Americans, in my opinion, who are ready to move on from this chapter.”
Meanwhile, Democrat strategist Christy Setzer described the situation as “tricky.”
“There are good arguments for President Biden to stay the course and for him to step aside in favor of VP Harris,” Ms. Setzer told The Epoch Times in an email.
“One dynamic in his favor, though: voters don’t like it when they sense a pile-on effect; often, they rally around the [piled-upon] candidate when that happens,” Ms. Setzer wrote.
“They may very well have thought Biden’s debate performance was bad, but after 10 days of brutal media coverage, there’s a sense of ‘that’s enough.’”
In response to media queries, President Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, issued a detailed letter on July 8, explaining the reasons for Dr. Kevin Cannard’s frequent visits to the White House over the past year. Dr. Cannard is a neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“As I have written in each of the President’s medical reports, as part of the President’s annual physical, he sees a team of specialists that have included Optometry, Dentistry, Orthopedics (Foot and Ankle), Orthopedics (Spine), Physical Therapy, Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Cardiology, Radiology, and Dermatology,” Dr. O’Connor wrote.
“Dr. Cannard was the neurological specialist that examined President Biden for each of his annual physicals. His findings have been made public each time I have released the results of the President’s annual physical,” he wrote.
Dr. O’Connor referred to his most recent exam outlined in his February letter, confirming that the president has no symptoms of a neurological disorder, including Parkinson’s.
Andrew Moran contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times